Police find drug money in SUV seized in 2007

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) said yesterday the vehicle belonged to Usman Salaemaeng who, with his associates, had been wanted for smuggling 270,000 amphetamine tablets since July 2004.

DSI director-general Thawee Sodsong said yesterday the suspect was operating with a drug-dealing network in the three southern provinces and in a neighbouring country.

The DSI did not cite a link between the suspect and the insurgency in the South in yesterday's press conference, but police sources said the man and his network were linked to an incident in which more than Bt30 million in cash was found stuffed in pipes buried under a house of a suspected insurgent in Narathiwat's Sungai Kolok district in October 2007.

According to the DSI, Usman has obtained Malaysian citizenship and operates legitimate businesses there and in other countries.

The DSI took over the investigation from Nong Khai police last year, following additional evidence implicating Usman as an international criminal who smuggles tablets into Thailand from neighbouring countries and makes deals with sub-agents in the South and Malaysia.

The information about the cash being hidden in the SUV came from a racket member arrested a few years ago.

The money, precisely Bt9,998,000, was found hidden in both rear doors of the Toyota Fortuner, which was seized in 2007 and had been used by police in Udon Thani, under an authorisation given by the Office of Narcotics Control Board. The serial numbers indicate the cash had been withdrawn from a Bangkok Bank branch in Narathiwat on July 18, 2007.

Thaweesak said the money would be seized under the anti-money laundering law.